IPS student data exposed | IndyStar.com: "In what appears to be one of the broadest online school security failures ever in the U.S., thousands of confidential Indianapolis Public Schools student records were available to the public through Google searches.

An Indianapolis Star reporter using Google found information on at least 7,500 students and some staff members, including phone numbers, birth dates, medical information and Social Security numbers. Such student information is required to be kept private under federal law.

Internet security experts said the inadvertent release of information resulted from a network setup that was sloppy. It appears that teachers and students unwittingly posted the files to the Web when they tried to save their work on the system.

IPS officials moved to correct the problem within an hour after The Star made them aware of the issue Wednesday morning. The Star broke the story online only after the district said the files had been protected and administrators began notifying staff.

'We will protect this information in the future,' Superintendent Eugene White said. 'This matter has received the highest priority of the district, and the IT department has made the necessary changes.'
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(Read Original Article - Via IndyStar.com .)